The government must show greater ambition and urgency in addressing the employment prospects of older workers if it hopes to meet its goal of an 80% employment rate, according to the 50+ Employment Taskforce.
Responding to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, which reveal a significant employment gap between younger and older workers, the Taskforce is calling on the government to adopt specific targets: raising the employment rate of 50–59-year-olds to 80%, and that of 60–66-year-olds to 55% over the next decade.
Current labour market data shows employment among 50–64-year-olds at 71.6%, trailing significantly behind the 85.7% rate for 35–49-year-olds. The employment gap between these age groups has widened post-pandemic to 14.1 percentage points, compared to 13.1 pre-2020. There are now nearly one million more older workers classed as economically inactive than before Covid-19.
The Taskforce – a coalition of leading organisations including the Centre for Ageing Better, the Learning and Work Institute, the Health Foundation and Age UK – warns that with the state pension age rising to 67 next year, around 900,000 people aged 50–66 who are unemployed or inactive but still keen to work risk being left behind. Reintegrating just half of this group could be enough to help the government meet its 80% employment target.
Dr Emily Andrews, Deputy Director for Work at the Centre for Ageing Better, said:
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